Toy Revolution: Histo­riography of Rebellion in Fairy Tales

Abstract

Kirill Zakharov explores in his article, “Toy Revolution: Histo­riography of Rebellion in Fairy Tales”, specific features popular in post-revolutionary children’s books that would often contain a plot borrowed from the literature of the previous period. Conditionally, it can be defined as “toy revolution” or “toy rebellion”. The investigation of that issue seems to be important for children’s literature of that time and for its reactions to the October Revolution. The article is based on various publications that demonstrate the conditions of revolutionary experience interpretation in children’s literature, as well as the efforts to use an old plot to explain to the young readers the essence of the Revolution and the foundations of a new world.

Keywords: October Revolution, Petrushka, trickster, agitation, Alexander Blok, Neverov, Gorodetsky, Agnivtsev, Chukovsky, Evreinov, children’s theater, Buratino